HTV to bring back 'The Beat'

With Houma-based HTV set to once again put local law enforcement in front of TV cameras, police officials said they’re hoping to create a “more realistic” portrayal of how they do their jobs.

Matthew AlbrightStaff Writer

With Houma-based HTV set to once again put local law enforcement in front of TV cameras, police officials said they’re hoping to create a “more realistic” portrayal of how they do their jobs. Martin Folse, the station’s owner, said he’s bringing back “The Beat,” a program that ended in 2005 after a more than 12-year run. The program — which Folse said was by far the station’s most watched — followed policemen on patrol through their daily work.“Hardly a day goes by that somebody doesn’t come up to me and ask me what happened to ‘The Beat,’” Folse said. “I just thought now would be a good time to bring it back.”Folse said the show will include multiple agencies, including the Terrebonne, Lafourche and Assumption parishes’ sheriff’s offices and the police departments in Houma, Thibodaux, Morgan City and Grand Isle.Folse said the program will likely start up sometime in September. The show would air sometime near the prime-time slot held by the channel’s flagship public affairs call-in show “Bayou Time,” though it would not replace that show, he said.Folse said he planned to bring the show back well before the premiere of “Cajun Justice,” a program on A&E featuring the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. He said he hopes “The Beat” might be an antidote to that show, which earned the ire of many Terrebonne Parish residents for its fantastical stories of voodoo, rougarous and lutins.“This is real-time stuff. What happens is what you get,” Folse said. “This is more about reporting what’s happening than it is about entertainment.”Folse said the show’s cameras often catch “heart-pounding” moments, like confrontations with drug dealers. But they also show more humorous escapades. The show featured, for example, a wedding that ended with Tasers and a man whose girlfriend left him handcuffed to a bed.Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter has been an outspoken critic of “Cajun Justice,” which was filmed during the tenure of his predecessor, Vernon Bourgeois. When Larpenter took office at the start of this month, he refused to allow A&E cameras to follow his deputies.“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen on TV. We had people using it to glorify themselves and made us look like fools doing it,” Larpenter said. “I don’t know where they came up with the term ‘reality show,’ because that’s all fake. It’s all staged.” But Larpenter, who helped Folse create the original incarnation of “The Beat” during previous terms as sheriff, said the local program treats law enforcement more realistically.“It’s the only actual reality show I’ve ever seen about law enforcement,” he said. “We want people to realize that our jobs are not easy. There are seriously victimized people and some hardened criminals in this parish.”Larpenter said he views the show as a journalistic enterprise, not entertainment. That means he’s comfortable that the department isn’t getting paid.Since deputies won’t stage events, they would be doing everything portrayed on camera anyway, so there’s no extra cost. “This is the same opportunity we give to all the media to come down and see what our job is really like,” he said. On Facebook, readers overwhelmingly said they approved of the show’s return.“I think it’s a good idea,” wrote Lucas LeCompte. “‘The Beat’ was tasteful, wasn’t fake, and did not use ridiculous nicknames for the officers.” Many commentators said they trusted the local station much more than outside crews seeking the most absurd shots possible.“The problem with ‘Cajun Justice’ is that it is staged and makes us look bad,” wrote Craig Aucoin. “I say bring back ‘The Beat’ and go national if you can, just don’t make the same mistakes as ‘Cajun Justice’ and make bad re-enactments.”

Staff Writer Matthew Albright can be reached at 448-7635 or at matthew.albright@dailycomet.com.